1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally directed to the field of marine, aircraft, automotive and hydraulic maintenance and repair and more particularly to the clearing and treating of open or blind, valve cylinders and the like, such as those in transmissions, and to a kit of cylindrical brushes that are treated with an aluminum oxide abrasive such that a brush selected from the kit may be safely used to de-burr or clean surface irregularities, remove embedded material build-up and polish the walls within a bore or cylinder.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Today's automotive and other transmissions are much different than earlier transmissions and use hydraulic valve bodies to control when a transmission is to shift and the overall timing of all the transmission components working together. Now, computers are used to control how the valve bodies are to function.
One of the biggest problems encountered to today's vehicle transmissions is fouling of valves within their valve cylinders caused by the use of hard coated aluminum valves running in cast aluminum valve bodies. The hardcoat on an aluminum valve is usually 0.002 to 0.003 inch in thickness. Typically, 50% of the hardcoat penetrates the aluminum leaving a 50% jacket or coating on the outside diameter of the valve. The aluminum valves tend to wear out prematurely. When a valve becomes worn, soft when the core is exposed, small particles of steel circulating in the transmission fluid, that have passed through the transmission filter, become embedded between the soft core of the valve and the valve body thereby causing the valve to hang up within the valve cylinder. When a valve hangs, it will normally cause a malfunction in the transmission which will cause a warning light on a vehicle instrument panel to illuminate and thereby worn a driver of the problem.
In addition to the foregoing, automatic vehicle transmissions typically have particulate trash circulating in the transmission fluid. Such trash is the by-product of friction and wear. Wearing of clutch plates, steel clutch plates and anywhere other components are in contact with one another will shed small particles into the transmission fluid as the transmission ages. Although filters catch a majority of the trash particles, some particles will bypass the filters and create build up on transmission parts. Due to tight tolerances between valves and the cylindrical bores in which they operate, typically a 0.0008 to 0.0015 inch clearance, these particles can cause a hanging of a valve or any other component that strokes inside a bore.
Valve cylinders may also be damaged during maintenance. In some instances, a valve may not easily come out of a valve cylinder or bore When a mechanic disassembles the valve body. In such instances, the mechanic may use a scribe that is a sharp pointed tool similar to a dentist pick. The mechanic may try to move the valve out by prying on it through the feed passages in the valve body. In most cases, the room to work is very limited with no good way to get leverage to pry the valve out. If the scribe slips, the pointed end can raise a burr on one of the passages perpendicular to the valve bore. The result will be a valve that is hard to put back in the valve body and will hang if the burr is not removed. Typically, the mechanic will place a piece of emery cloth around an end of a coat hanger or a slotted mandrill and use the cloth to rub or hone the inside of the bore. Such a honing process is time consuming and very difficult with the honing effect being different at the inner surfaces of the bore. In some instances, mechanics will use nylon bottle brushes that are coated with mineral spirits to clean a contaminated valve cylinder or bore. Unfortunately, such brushes are not effective to remove burrs or embedded trash from valve cylinders or bores.
Automotive transmissions are not the only mechanical components that include bores, either open or blind, that become damaged or coated during use and require cleaning and polishing to provide for optimum performance and extended life expectancy. Blind bore applications can be found in marine, farm, power mechanics of all ranges, lawn mowers and tractors, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, plumbing operations, air conditioning systems, air and space craft as well as other areas.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need to provide an abrasive tool or attachment that may be easily and quickly used to treat the inner surfaces of valve cylinders or bores in such a manner as to effectively remove burrs and other surface irregularities and to remove embedded materials that build up within the bores in such a manner that will not adversely effect the inner surfaces of the bores. In addition to the foregoing, due to the numerous diameters of valve cylinders or bores, there is a need to provide a manner in which substantially all valve bores in any mechanical field, including vehicle transmissions, may be treated with a minimum number of tools.